by Paul & Phillip D. Collins,
Jan. 11, 2008
As these authors write these words, Israel is conducting a major ground assault in the Gaza Strip. Israeli ground troops and heavy armor have moved deep into the Gaza Strip ("Israeli forces split Gaza in two"). According to the BBC, the move has, in effect, cut the territory in two (ibid). This ground assault followed hot on the heels of Operation Cast Lead, a December 27-28 series of Israeli airstrikes conducted in Gaza in response to Hamas' refusal to renew the truce brokered by Egypt in the summer of 2008
(Khalil, "The already-strained Hamas-Egypt relationship sours"). Hamas had been launching rocket attacks into Israel since December 24, when no less than 70 rockets hit the small Jewish state, and Israel decided to strike back ("Israeli jets hit Hamas target, killing 1").
Doubtless, the conflict between Israel and Hamas is one of the many issues that Obama will have to address when he enters the Oval Office. Is the President-elect sincere in his opposition to the terrorists responsible for the current Middle East crisis? Obama has repeatedly condemned Hamas, calling the group a terrorist organization (Oinounou, "A Hamas problem for Obama?") The President-elect even went as far as to condemn former President Jimmy Carter for meeting with Hamas (ibid). But the words of Ahmed Yousef, a top Hamas
political advisor, during a WABC interview, seem to suggest that Obama's opposition to Hamas may be a mere public relations ploy. During the interview, Yousef stated:
"We don't mind-actually we like Mr. Obama. We hope he will (win) the election and I do believe he is like John Kennedy, great man with great principle, and he has a vision to change America to make it in a position to lead the world community but not with domination and arrogance." (Ibid)
Why would Hamas support an Obama presidency? The answer may lie in a group known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
The Muslim Brotherhood
Hassan al-Banna
According to former CIA operative Robert Baer, Hamas was an offshoot of the Egyptian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood (172). Founded in 1928 by an Egyptian schoolteacher named Hassan al-Banna with the expressed purpose of purifying Islam, the Muslim Brotherhood is anything but a benign Muslim organization (172).
According to Baer, the Brotherhood "is another of the cauldrons from which al Qaeda emerged" (172). Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the architect of the September 11 attacks, joined the Muslim Brotherhood at the age of sixteen and attended the Brotherhood's desert youth camps (Mintz and Farah, "In Search of Friends Among Foes"). Ayman Zawahiri, Osama bin Laden's deputy, was a member of the Muslim Brotherhood's Egyptian branch (ibid). According to Seymour Hersh, the Brotherhood may have even been involved in the September 11 attacks. Hersh states: "Many of the September 11th hijackers had operated out of cells in
Aachen and Hamburg, where Al Qaeda was working with the Brotherhood" ("The Syrian Bet"). The Brotherhood's hatred of the United States was clearly expressed in a 1991 internal memorandum written by Mohamed Akram for the Shura Council of the Muslim Brotherhood. Entitled "An Explanatory Memorandum on the General Strategic Goal for the Brotherhood in North America," the document states that the Brotherhood's activities in the United States represent:
a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and "sabotaging" its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and God's religion is made victorious over all other religions. (Akram)
Akram's memorandum failed to mention the powerful, white, English-speaking individuals that have given assistance to the Brotherhood's "grand Jihad." The Muslim Brotherhood is not only a radical and dangerous party; it is intimately tied to the power elite. This connection probably had its start prior to World War Two when British travel writer and intelligence agent Freya Stark forged an alliance between the Brotherhood and British intelligence (Dorril 622). Brotherhood collaboration with Western intelligence continued with an alliance between the Brotherhood and the CIA that began around 1955. According to former CIA agent Miles
Copeland, it was around this time that America began looking for the Muslim equivalent of Billy Graham, hoping to use such a charismatic individual to influence the Arab world. When this failed, the Agency began forging ties with the Muslim Brotherhood (Aburish 60-61).
The connection between the Brotherhood and the power elite is perfectly illustrated by the party's audience with the Bush Administration. On June 20, 2007, the Bureau of Intelligence and Research at the State Department hosted a meeting with other intelligence community representatives to discuss the opening of "more formal channels" to the Muslim Brotherhood (Lake, "Bush Weighs Reaching Out to 'Brothers'"). One of the Brotherhood supporters at the June 20 meeting was Robert Leiken (ibid). Robert Leiken, a scholar at the Nixon Center, was commissioned by the National Intelligence Council to put together a paper on the history
of the Muslim Brotherhood earlier in 2007 (ibid). According to administration officials, Leiken's paper to the National Intelligence Council drew the attention of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and senior members of the National Security Council (ibid). George W. Bush even encouraged Tariq al-Hashemi, the leader of the Iraq branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, to form an alliance to oppose Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki (Slavin,
"Iraqi VP says Bush wants coalition to counter al-Sadr").
After his election victory, Barack Obama promised that change was on the way. Will that change include an end to Washington's contact with the Muslim Brotherhood? Unfortunately, there is evidence that the Brotherhood will maintain its audience with Washington circles during the Obama reign.
The Democrats' Answer to Grover Norquist
Mazen Asbahi
When the Obama campaign needed an individual to reach out to the Muslim community, it turned to Chicago lawyer Mazen Asbahi for help (Simpson and Chozick, "Obama's Muslim-Outreach Adviser Resigns"). But Asbahi's connections to the Muslim Brotherhood did more to raise questions than it did to bridge gaps. By August of 2008, Asbahi had resigned from his position as volunteer coordinator for Muslim American affairs for the Obama campaign (ibid).
Asbahi was the democrats' equivalent of GOP/Bush political operative Grover Norquist, meant to court Muslim American voters. And like Norquist, Asbahi had several radical associations that raised eyebrows and set off alarm bells. Eight years before taking up the Obama cause, Asbahi served on the Board of the Allied Asset Advisors (Spencer, "Obama's Muslim Outreach Problem"). Allied Asset Advisors is a subsidiary of the North American Islamic Trust (NAIT) (ibid). According to the 1991 internal memorandum authored by Akram for the Muslim Brotherhood, NAIT is part of the network conducting the Brotherhood's "grand jihad" ("An
Explanatory Memorandum on the General Strategic Goal for the Brotherhood in North America"). NAIT is also connected to the Holy Land Foundation (HLF), an organization believed to be involved in the financing of Muslim Brotherhood offshoot Hamas (Josh Gerstein, "US: Facts Tie Muslim Groups To Hamas Front Case").
According to the prosecutors in the HLF case, NAIT has an "intimate relationship with the Muslim Brotherhood" (ibid).
When the Wall Street Journal and other media organs began raising questions, Asbahi quickly went to work on damage control. The Chicago lawyer claimed he resigned from Allied Asset Advisors' board immediately after learning about fellow board member Jamal Said's connection to Hamas (Simpson and Chozick, "Obama's Muslim-Outreach Adviser Resigns"). However, Asbahi later admitted that his resignation from the Obama
campaign was purely a "strategic decision," suggesting that the explanation for his involvement in the Allied Asset Advisors was contrived (Spencer, "Obama's Muslim Outreach Problem"). Asbahi's alibi further disintegrated on September 15, 2008 when the former Muslim liaison met with members of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) (ibid). CAIR's parent organization, the Islamic Association for Palestine, is named in Akram's Muslim Brotherhood memorandum as part of the Brotherhood's "grand jihad" network (ibid). Asbahi's resignation did not end the Obama campaign's love affair with the Muslim Brotherhood. Also present at the September 15, 2008 meeting was Asbahi's replacement as the Obama campaign's Muslim
liaison, Minha Husaini (ibid).
Rezko, Othman, and Al Taqwa Antoin "Tony" Rezko
Obama may also connect to the Muslim Brotherhood through his old Chicago mob friends. Antoin "Tony" Rezko, a Syrian-American political fundraiser and Chicago real estate developer provides the bridge. On June 4, 2008, Rezko was found guilty in federal court on 16 corruption charges ("Rezko begins serving time immediately"). It seems that when Rezko wasn't busy helping his friends in the Illinois political scene, such as scandal-embroiled Governor Rod Blagojevich and Obama, he was knee-deep in a kickback scheme that involved taking bribes from companies that desired state contracts (ibid).Obama owes a lot to his good friend Tony. Rezko began his career as Obama's political godfather in 1995, when two of his food companies contributed $2,000 to Obama's campaign (Novak, "Obama and his Rezko ties"). It was the beginning of a beautiful political friendship. Rezko helped bankroll Obama in five election runs (Fusco, et al., "Obama explains Rezko relationship to Sun-Times"). After some ducking and weaving,
Obama admitted to receiving $250,000 from Rezko's fundraising efforts (ibid). According to the Chicago Sun-Times, this amount was "about $100,000 more than had previously been disclosed and about five times more than Obama conveyed during a November 2006 question-and-answer exchange with the Sun-Times" (ibid). Standing behind Rezko is Talat Othman, a leader in the American Muslim community in Illinois and an extremely successful Arab American businessman. It was Othman who introduced Rezko to former Illinois
governor Jim Edgar and it was Othman who aided Rezko in gaining access to Illinois political circles (Hanania, "Arabs in Chicago discover political clout and controversy"). Rezko was also recognized as "Entrepreneur of the Decade" by Othman's Arab-American Business and Professional Association (ibid).
Othman has a close relationship with M. Yaqub Mirza, a naturalized Pakistani businessman and physicist (Trento 336). Othman and Mirza were co-chairmen of the Islamic Society of North America 2001 Convention (336). The two were also involved in Amana Mutual Funds Trust, an Islamic mutual fund which, according to investigative journalist Joseph Trento, "specializes in investments that are consonant with Islamic beliefs" (336). Othman sits on Amana's board and Mirza served as the mutual fund's chairman (336). M. Yaqub Mirza
On March 20, 2002 a U.S. Treasury task force known as Green Quest raided 14 homes and businesses believed to be involved in terrorism financing that were affiliated with Mirza (Guidera and Simpson, "Agents Raid Properties Affiliated with Chairman of Islamic Fund"). According to Guidera and Simpson, the Green Quest investigators were "most interested in Mr. Mirza's role as an officer in the Saar Foundation, a nonprofit started in the 1970s by members of the Saudi Arabia's al-Rajihi family, which has interest in banking, construction, and real estate" (ibid). Stephen Schwartz identifies the Saar Foundation as the "keystone" to the Mirza-related network ("Wahhabis in the Old Dominion").
The hidden hand of the Muslim Brotherhood can be identified through the Saar Foundation's connection with a shell company known as Al-Taqwa (Schwartz, "Wahhabis in the Old Dominion"). The Al-Taqwa shell game was originally based in Switzerland and had as one of its leading figures a notorious Nazi disciple named Ahmed Huber (ibid). It was an extensive network that included companies based in the Bahamas, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein (Hosenball, "Attacking the Money Machine"). Al Taqwa even had a foothold in the United States until after September 11 when its assets were frozen and its operations were shut down by a U.S. presidential order ("Wahhabis in the Old Dominion"). According to a Newsweek investigation, the Al Taqwa network "was set up in the 1980s by prominent members of the Muslim Brotherhood" ("Attacking the Money Machine"). Al-Taqwa' chairman, Youssef Nada, even admitted to being a member of the Brotherhood for 50 years (ibid).
Apparently, the Green Quest raids made Othman extremely nervous. Two weeks after the
raids, Othman and several other Muslim activists met with Secretary of the Treasury Paul O'Neill to protest the raids (Trento 337). Was Othman afraid that the investigation would connect him to the Muslim Brotherhood's plan for a "grand jihad"? Four individuals who were targets of the investigation were affiliated with Amana, the mutual fund where Othman serves as a trustee (337). It is also interesting to note that another Amana board member, Samir Salah, is known to have ran a Caribbean branch of the Muslim Brotherhood's Al-Taqwa network ("Wahhabis in the Old Dominion"). Talat OthmanWhen Obama tries to downplay his connections to Rezko, is he merely trying to conceal his poor judgement in the realm of campaign finance? The 44th President may be trying to hide a much more disturbing reality from the eyes of the public. That reality is the fact that our own government, in league with the power elite, will continue collaborating with America's enemies. The "grand Jihad" proclaimed by Akram in his 1991 memorandum does not only constitute the Muslim Brotherhood's crusade to destroy Western civilization. It also constitutes the power elites's war on the plebians.
Iran
Obama's Muslim Brotherhood connections may motivate him to go soft on Hamas when it comes time for him to deal with the current Middle East crisis. The Muslim Brotherhood is still very close to its Hamas offshoot.
If the new administration was too supportive of Israel in its efforts to end the terrorist attacks, it could potentially alienate its Muslim Brotherhood connections.Those connections may prove useful when the new administration unveils its plans for Iran.
According to investigative researcher Webster Tarpley, power in Washington has shifted away from the neocon "rogue" faction of the elite to the Trilateral faction that stands behind Obama ("US Policy Shift On
Iran-Iraq Again Shows Brzezinski Rules In Washington"). This faction seeks to redirect the American Empire's hostilities away from Iran and focus them on Russia and China (ibid). Such a plan requires that Iran be transformed into an asset, which means that Tehran's efforts to procure nuclear weapons may even be tolerated, so long as Iran is willing to act as a nuclear proxy of the American Empire (ibid). Iran has long desired to revive the Persian Empire, and Trilateralists such as Carter's former National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski believe that they can insure that a revived Persian Empire is merely an extension of the American Empire.
For Obama, diplomacy really means imperial recruitment. The Muslim Brotherhood could provide the bridge in the recruitment process. According to Robert Baer, Iran has substantial ties with Jordan's branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, known as the Islamic Action Front (178). Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood offshoot currently fighting with Israel, is also extremely close to Iran. Iran first began establishing contact with Hamas in 1992, when Israel expelled 415 members of Hamas's leadership as punishment for their involvement in the first intifada, which was a Palestinian uprising against Israeli rule (172). When the exiled leaders crossed the
border into Jordan, they found Hezbollah, a Shi'a paramilitary organization that acts as Iran's Lebanese proxy, waiting for them with open arms (172). Hezbollah provided the Hamas leaders with tents, clothes, and food (172-173). A few days later, an Iranian Revolutionary Guard officer also arrived on the scene to provide assistance to the Hamas leaders (173). Without a doubt, the Muslim Brotherhood and Iran are becoming extremely close as Iran attempts to co-opt every major movement and political party in the region as part of its bid for empire.
The Obama administration may wish to use its connection to the Muslim Brotherhood as a means of establishing diplomatic channels with Iran. But that means the new President may
not be as supportive of Israel in its struggle with Hamas. Obama may even pressure Israel to come to the table of diplomacy and establish yet another truce with Hamas. The 1988 Hamas Covenant, however, painfully illustrates why peace overtures on Israel's part would be an act of folly. Article seven of the covenant states:"The Day of Judgement will not come about until Moslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Moslems, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him. Only the Gharkad tree, (evidently a certain kind of tree) would not do that because it is one of the trees of the Jews." ("Hamas Covenant 1988")
Article 28 reiterates the document's anti-Jewish theme when it states: "Israel, Judaism, and Jews challenge Islam and Muslim people. 'May the cowards never sleep.'" ("Hamas Covenant 1988"). Obviously, the idea of Israel establishing a truce with a group that adheres to such ideas is unthinkable. It would merely give Hamas an opportunity to lick its wounds and continue to prepare for the day when it hopes to finally wipe Israel from the face of the earth.
These authors believe that history will characterize the Obama administration's attempts at diplomacy with Iran as a lost opportunity. Iran has been a hotbed of radicalism ever since the 1979 Iranian Revolution.
Instead of facilitating Iran's departure from radicalism, Obama and his puppeteers will work to turn the radicals against the American Empire's competitors, such as Russia and China. A chance to move Iran in a moderate direction will slip away as Obama and his Establishment handlers try to employ the country as an asset in their fight for dominance in the New World Order. In the process, Obama will help expedite the Brotherhood's "grand Jihad."
